Curtisimo's Top 10 Coins of 2021

Thanks Brian!

Thanks @Nvb ! I am fond of the Patraos reverse as well. That was one of my best bang for buck purchases of the year as well. It was hard for me to place it at 6. I appreciate the kind words.

Thanks @happy_collector . Sounds like our favorites line up pretty well. I’m surprised you didn’t post your own recent Agathokles. If that was mine I’d be posting it every day till the end of the internet.

Same here. I’ve been on the lookout for one of these for a long time but really nice Peloponnesian War types don’t show up at auction all that often and they always strong bidding. I was happy to add this one to my collection this year. It’s definitely a keeper.

Thank you for the kind words.

Haha yes. It was not lost on me that a full 4 of my top 10 came from my new favorite coin shop. Knowing some of these came from your collection makes me like them more for sure.

The Gortyna is an example I have wanted but wasn’t expecting to add this year. I am extremely glad I did. Yours is one of the best I’ve ever seen... and your other one is surely the most interesting I’ve seen. So I can say mine came from a connoisseur.

Thanks @DonnaML !

 

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Such a great list, impossible to chose! But if I have to, and I did because I enjoy to vote, your no.'s 1 and 2 would be me favorites too. I also went for the gold stater of Brutus, or aliens...

 

Thank you my friend! You are far too kind.

I can’t not see that poster when I look at my Brutus now.

I also hope 2022 is a great year for you and your family as well.

Thank you @Spaniard for the kind words. I can’t help but feel the need to add the context to each of the coins because it speaks directly to why I chose to add each of them. It’s also fun to lay out my thoughts on each one. Sometimes I think I overdo it a bit. I am glad that you and some others enjoyed the write ups and did not find them to be overly ponderous.

Thank you Al. I respect your fine taste in coins so I am happy for the words of encouragement. Good point about the use of the term anepigraphic. I’m not sure if that would be the technically correct nomenclature for these or not but hopefully everyone gets what I meant to convey by it.

 

Thanks @Andres2 . Very cool coin and poster. I hadn't read before that the Chimera was thought to represent the danger of storms. Interesting!

Thanks for the great reply @Roman Collector . I have narrowed my minting date in my description to AD 156 per your notes. I much appreciate having such access to a world class specialist who is willing to share his research. Thank you!

Yes I can definitely see a similarity in the style of yours and mine. That is neat to think they may have been made by the same person and that we can tell that just from looking at their work over 1800 years later. My hypothesis when I first saw this coin at auction was that this particular die engraver was practiced at rendering portraits of Divi Faustina I on her posthumous coinage and carried that style over even when engraving portraits for Faustina II. There were some really talented die engravers working at the mint during the reign of Antoninus Pius in my opinion. So talented in fact that I keep picking up new Faustinas as the cost of targeting some of the other empresses I've been meaning to add.

The emperors have nice dies too. There is one particular die for A-Pi on the denarii that I have been looking for ever since I saw an example from @Severus Alexander a few years ago.

Thank you for the additional information RC and that you also for the kind words.

Thanks ominus!

Thanks FF. I knew I wasn't going to make the end of the year since I still had to photograph some of these and I was travelling for the holidays. I guess I could say I posted it as soon as I could make sure there were no aurei lodged at the bottom of my stocking...

I had a hunch you would like the gold one. Thanks for the kind words John and I hope that you and your family have an excellent 2022 as well my friend.

Thanks @TIF ! I think the Cassius Longinus denarius was one of my most enjoyable coins to study and write up.

 

As I think you know, we have pretty similar coin taste (though I must say you're much more discerning when it comes to provenance ), so I love every single coin on this list... and my top 3 are the same as your top 3 (difficult as it was to relegate the ΚΟΣΩΝ - which I'm still kinda obsessing about! - and the e̶n̶v̶i̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ envied Brutus to 4 and 5).

I have a much more modest Maussolos drachm, but I still like its facing Apollo:

Yours is bigger and better in every way, of course. What an amazing Zeus on the reverse!

I want a Sikyon stater for exactly the same reasons as you do, but would settle for a hemidrachm as long as it dates to the late 5th century. For dating, I look for the older ΣΕ ethnic... any other tips?

This one?

 

Awesome list @Curtisimo…the Maussolos tet is amazing! That has been the number one type on my want list for a long time. I came very close at 2 auctions this year, but got outbid at the last second. Hoping to land one of these soon. Yours is an absolute stunner!

I love the Brutus denarius (#5), and the detail on the reverse of #6 is incredible, but all of these are great. Congrats on a truly excellent group of coins this year!

 

Lol you always crack me up buddy. I figured you would pick the shield. I am looking forward to doing some additional research into the reverse scene (including the Macedonian shield) on it. I am pleased to see that one is so popular. I went after a top notch example last year that ended up in the fantastic collection of @kazuma78 so I was both pleased and surprised to get another chance at an example I really liked this year. I definitely lucked out on that one. It would have been top 3 in any of my last 3 years.

I really like that Sikyon! My collection is a bit light on monster coins so it's nice to pick up an example that serves two themes

Also, congrats on joining the Gortyna club. We should give out top hats and elect Z as our club president.

I take being noted as having similar taste to you as a very high compliment indeed John. Thanks for the kind words. When I scored my ex Stoecklin Agathokles tet early in the year I didn't think it would have any serious challengers for my top spot but I am glad that I was wrong.

I hope you have an excellent 2022 as well.

Thanks Octavius! I hope the same for you as well.

 

Great selections!!! You added some wonderful pieces in 2021. I love your #1 and I can see why you placed it there. I also enjoyed the Paeonian Tetradrachm, the Sikyon Stater and the Agathokles tetradrachm. You've managed to acquire a few pieces still on my want list and grabbed some good examples. I hope you have an even better 2022!

 

The Maussolos is my favorite one! Did you check the symbol in the field left of Zeus? It's not described and I don't remember seeing it before. Furthermore, the coin is not from the same dies with the kunker coin as referenced by Roma. I think this deserves a bit of more research which would be very interesting to do.

I don't have a Maussolos coin to share, but I have one of his father.

 

That is a beautiful Hekatomnus example!

You are quite correct @pprp . My Maussolos was not struck with the same dies (obverse or reverse) as the Kunker auction example as listed by Roma. That’s disappointing and a bit frustrating. I should have checked that before adding it to my description. This is my newest coin of the year and I had not yet had the chance to research further than what I found in the old Roma listing. Thanks for the heads up.

As to the symbol in the field, you are also correct. It is not listed in BMC;



I agree! More research is needed. Thank you for taking the time to look into that information and for responding. You are a very skilled researcher when it comes to such things.

 

That reminds me of my favourite tiny coin from last year:

It's a tetartemorion of Hekatomnos. Given the size of the coin (only 6mm, 0.22g) I think the Apollo die is pretty amazing. (Only cost me 16 euros too!) Still need to take my own photo.

 

That's a splendid selection of coins, @Curtisimo ! All of them are extraordinary, so it's hard to pick favorites.

To me, the Gortyna stater is fascinating because of the depiction of Europa. Your Sicilian tetradrachm is a real beauty, the Republican temple of Vesta has a great provenance and an interesting historical background, and I can't help but find the Chimaera from Sikyon adorably cute. You obviously had a fantastic year of collecting!

 

I feel less alone then

Q

 

While I am not an expert in these, I guess you might find something in Konuk's papers or books, I think he published several on the Hecatomnids.

 

It was difficult to chose only three coins , you have many nice and interesting coins on the list , I voted for :
#1 Maussolos Tetradrachm
#4 Koson Stater
#5 Brutus Denarius
Congratulations !!

 

Thank you @Limes ! The Brutus / alien coin has been on my list for a long time and I was happy to add it. It is my first ancient gold coin.

I also enjoy voting and have enjoyed watching the results of the votes on this list. I have recognized that I sometimes have "newer coin" bias when I put these lists together and that over time my favorites change a bit. It has been interesting to go back to some of my previous lists and compare my updated ranking to the voting trends. I much appreciate your participation!

YES!

That IS an impressive facing portrait for only 6mm! Nice!

Thanks Shea! I was very excited to add the Maussolos both for the history and the artistry. I have seen a few nice examples of Maussolos coins come up at auction recently. I struck out a few times myself over the last few years before landing this one. I wish you luck at adding one and when you do I hope to see you post it here! I always enjoy your posts and your top quality coins.

Thanks @kazuma78 ! I can definitely say the same about your additions in 2021. You landed some great coins on your Top 10 that are high on my list (...Persian daric anyone!). I look forward to seeing what 2022 brings you!

Thanks @Orielensis ! I am glad to see that the Gortyna Europa coin got some votes. I think its a fascinating coin and one of the most pleasant coins to research of any of the coins I bought this year.

I appreciate the king words!

Thank you for the lead. I will definitely look into that. Since I posted last night I referenced "Traite des monnaies grecques et romaines" to see if there was discussion of the symbols but no luck... just a placeholder reference for the type. This will be something I will look into as I prepare a proper write up for this coin in the future.

Thanks @singig !

 

Thanks again to everyone who posted to the the thread and voted in the poll. I value the thoughts of the group and I always enjoy the comments. I find it fascinating to compare my ranking to the group.

Just as with previous years I will wrap it up by showing my Top 10 coins arranged according to the votes. The below order excludes my own votes for my 1, 2 and 3.

 

This makes a good point. All coins may have been mint state but not all mint state coins were created equal. Mine is a similar grade of a different type but not as universally appealing due to style, striking and damage.